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Workplaces are changing. Every day there are businesses being established virtually, “on the cloud”, freelancers working from home, others in co-working spaces, but each and every business, new or established, has the ability to now work with anyone in the world at the touch of a button. This great new way of getting clients and broadening your reach has many benefits. Conference calls are done via Skype, (to name just a few), contacts are made via social media, networking sessions are Twitter Chats,… the list is endless. The need for travel is practically nil.
With more and more business being conducted online, it’s important to know the “rules”. For everything we know and understand about the World Wide Web, there are a million more things we don’t know. It can be a very dangerous place if not handled correctly. Websites can be malicious, hiding malware, or viruses, which you might inadvertently install into your computer while researching or when asked to login. Also, always be aware never to reveal passwords or bank details over the Internet – I think that goes without saying.
When dealing with online payments, there are a number of options now available to send and receive payments. One of the most widely known and trusted is but others are available also. Only accept payment from secure sites and don’t open links you don’t believe to be genuine. With the popularity of payment platforms such as PayPal, more and more hackers are trying to use it as a way to get your details.
When it comes to social media, it’s important to remember that your personality might not always come across. The written word can be misinterpreted and once it’s out there on the Internet, there’s no taking it back (even if you delete it!). If other people are tweeting or posting on your behalf, make sure they are aware of your company policies, and always change the passwords immediately if you part ways with
them – you don’t want them saying things “on your behalf” after a nasty breakup!
Something that has been talked about a lot recently is the SSL protocol. Apart from Google now requiring it to help your site rankings on the search engine, it helps your organisation comply with regional, national or international regulations on data privacy, security and integrity. Mostly used for e-commerce sites to further secure data transfers etc., other sites are also implementing it as a way to secure system logins from within their organisations too.
New technologies are always emerging, and with them new challenges in regards to health and safety in the digital workplace. One thing remains the same though. The need for training across the company so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to corporate image, direction and tone of the company so as to avoid blunders that could haunt them for years to come. Check out some of that people are still talking about today and remember to stop and think before you tweet, post, blog, etc. Let’s not be afraid of using the Internet to promote our business, but let’s be astute about it, like who appeal to people’s
emotions in a real way.
